England vs Mexico Tops the Best Games of the 2026 FIFA World Cup So Far
Did we just witness one of the best World Cup games of all time?
While recency bias will need to be tempered throughout the months and years before we say for sure if Mexico vs. England in Mexico City for the Round of 16 is a match that stands the test of time, it is certainly one of the best games of a tournament that has already had a slew of memorable contests.
Does it deserve the top spot, though? Let’s rank the three most exciting games so far at this year’s World Cup following the madness at Estadio Azteca on Sunday night.
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3. Portugal vs. Croatia (Round of 32)
If you want drama, then this game had all of it.
While the first half was a bit of a snooze, the second half was arguably the most action-packed of the entire tournament. Croatia and Portugal went back-and-forth down the field, trading opportunities, and tipping the scales on who was in the driver’s seat. After Cristiano Ronaldo had a goal disallowed for being a hair offsides, he came back only a few minutes later to convert a penalty to tie the game.
After a late goal to put Portugal ahead, Croatia thought it had tied the game with the last kick of the ball, but it was brought back in an agonizing video assist review.
2. Argentina vs. Cape Verde (Round of 32)
Anyone who ranks this first isn’t wrong. I might wake up tomorrow and put this ahead of Sunday’s game.
When it comes to David vs. Goliath faceoffs, it couldn’t get better than the reigning World Cup champions with the greatest player of all time in Lionel Messi taking on a debutant nation with a population of near 600,000. And while there were memes and jokes thrown about what if Cape Verde beat Messi and Argentina, they pushed the champions to their absolute and beyond in a game that fans will never forget.
Every time it appeared if the Cinderella run was done for Cape Verde, they’d throw another haymaker at Argentina and keep the brawl going.
While the Goliath won in the end, Cape Verde exited the tournament not losing a single game in regulation time at the World Cup. And three of their opponents were Uruguay, Spain, and Argentina.
1. England vs. Mexico (Round of 16)
England took on an entire nation on Sunday and are leaving Mexico battered and bruised, but still standing and moving forward at the World Cup.
It was a game where the emotions were high from the first kick of the ball. Although it might have lacked the technical brilliance seen in the other two games, it was a beautiful display of two teams giving it their all to survive the biggest competition of their lives.
After going down to 10 men with a third of the game still remaining, England gritted their teeth and battled as the sea of noise around them wanted them to buckle under the pressure. Mexico threw everything and the kitchen sink at them, but England prevailed, the roar of the crowd only silencing once the final whistle blew to call for the end of the contest.
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This story was originally published July 5, 2026 at 8:53 PM.